Minnesota Pollution Control Agency

Contact: Nancy Miller, (507) 280-3590 Rochester, Minn. -- The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) is seeking comments on an Environmental Assessment Worksheet (EAW) prepared for a proposed installation of relief sanitary sewer in Rochester. Citizens are invited to comment on the EAW until July 30, 2008. The proposed project would include installation of approximately 1,700 linear feet of 60-inch and 3,300 linear feet of 48-inch relief sanitary sewer line. The relief sewer lines would provide additional protection against sewer overload from peak wet-weather flows. Relief sewer lines supplement existing sewer lines by intercepting flows that exceed an existing line's capacity. Installation is proposed in two phases. Phase I would result in about 1,700 feet of 60-inch relief sewer along First Avenue Northeast, from Seventh Street Northeast to 12th Street Northeast, and approximately 700 feet of 48-inch relief sewer along Seventh Street Northeast, from First Avenue Northeast to West Silver Lake Drive Northwest and continuing to West Circle Drive Northeast. Phase II would include installation of about 2,400 feet of 48-inch relief sewer along First Avenue Northeast, from Seventh Street Northeast to Second Street Northeast, and along Second Street Northeast, from First Avenue Northeast to Broadway Avenue North. The relief lines will address sewer capacity issues and reduce the potential for sewer backups after significant rainfalls affecting this area of the city. The EAW provides basic information about how the proposed project could potentially affect the environment and helps determine whether an Environmental Impact Statement, a more comprehensive environmental review, is needed. Interested parties may comment on the EAW during the public notice period, from Monday, June 30, through Wednesday, July 30. Written comments must be received at the MPCA office in St. Paul by 4:30 p.m. on the last day of the comment period. Copies of the Rochester Relief Sanitary Sewer Project EAW are available at the MPCA Rochester office, 18 Wood Lake Drive S.E.; at the MPCA St. Paul office, 520 Lafayette Road N.; and from the MPCA Web site at http://www.pca.state.mn.us. Send questions and comments on the Rochester Relief Sanitary Sewer Project EAW to Jessica Ebertz, Environmental Review and Operations, MPCA, 520 Lafayette Road N., Saint Paul, MN 55155. Ebertz can also be reached by phone at (651) 296-8011, by fax at (651) 297-2343 or by e-mail at jessica.ebertz@pca.state.mn.us.